A 53-year-old Bivins woman with no prior felony convictions was sentenced to 20 years in prison by a judge Monday after pleading guilty to a drug charge in 115th District Court in Gilmer, said Upshur County District Attorney Billy Byrd.

Joyce J. McDaniel pled to possession of a controlled substance (methamphetamine) with intent to deliver and was sentenced by 115th District Judge Lauren Parish, Byrd said.

“Evidence showed she (McDaniel) had over seven grams of the drug in her center console during a traffic stop on July 2, 2012. (Upshur County Sheriff’s) Deputy David Thompson conducted the stop and later found the drug in her car after consent to search was granted by the defendant,” Byrd said in a news release.

“Evidence also showed she attempted to hide some of the meth in a drink found in her center console. That liquid was weighed at the lab as well,” he added.

A jury was to have been chosen Monday in Ms. McDaniel’s case, but she instead entered the plea bargain and waived her right to appeal, Byrd said. Since she had no prior convictions, she was eligible to receive probation from a jury, he noted.

Byrd told The Mirror he recommended such a stiff sentence for a first-time offender because of the amount of methamphetamine in her possession and because he had “information she’d been selling” drugs.

He represented the state at the sentencing, while Gilmer attorney Matthew Patton represented Ms. McDaniel.